Nesirky said that while home countries discipline military members of Peacekeeping missions, the UN disciplines police officers.

Allegations of abuse have dogged UN peacekeeping missions since their inception over 50 years ago.

The issue was thrust into the spotlight after the United Nations found in early 2005 that Peacekeepers in Congo had sex with Congolese women and girls, usually in exchange for food or small sums of money.

The UN Peacekeeping department instituted a "zero tolerance" policy toward sexual abuse, a new code of conduct for its more than 110,000 Peacekeepers deployed around the world, and new training for officers and all UN personnel.

Nonetheless, allegations of sexual abuse persist.

German guilty of pedophilia

Also on Monday, a German court found a 58-year-old man guilty of repeatedly sexually abusing minors while serving as an aid-worker in Haiti.

German news agency DPA reported that Landshut state court sentenced the man, whose name was not released, to 4.5 years in prison.

Police last year detained the head of a small Berlin-based aid organisation as he attempted to smuggle one of his victims, a then 11-year-old boy from Haiti, into Germany.

The boy is now being raised by a German family.

Authorities say the man had traveled several times to Haiti where he was involved in projects to help street children.The DPA reports that prosecutors had sought a prison term of almost six years. The court's verdict could be appealed.